ThermoMachines… My 2c worth

It seems everyone has an opinion these days about which is the best Thermo-machine and 80% of the time it’s the brand that is sitting on their own kitchen bench. Some people cannot justify the 2k of a TM and others cannot justify the extra landfill from a clone.

To some people considering help in the kitchen; 2k is almost what they paid for their car (both cars I have bought actually), “rego-ish” is more in their price range. Whichever side of the fence you are on I encourage you to research before you buy. 2k is a lot of money to pay for a thing that sits in your kitchen and does nothing, but so is $250 for a clone (when they are on sale).

Some readers may be aware that I own a TM31, a TB1, Bellini 1 and a Mistral (and now a MyCook). They don’t all always live at my house, they often (like children) go to visit my friends. Recently I was accused of being (by Honey) a Thermomix snob, that is because I loved my TM waaaaay more than our first clone (Thermoblend1) the base was smaller and harder to clean, he kept “biting” me- the blades are sharper ( I think they start out ridiculous and go blunter over time, whereas the TM blades are able to be sharpened by grinding ice). He went to visit my bridesmaid, Ebony, and she had no pre-conceived ideas of what a thermo-machine should be. She enjoyed his stay, and like me found making TB1 custard a nightmare too (but it’s fun to drink). Ebony also had a better TB1 sized scrubbing brush, which made cleaning the jug easier. Lending the TB1 actually helped me to enjoy it more when it was returned... I even missed him while he was gone.

I bought the Bellini while Davo (our TB1) was visiting Ebony. The day I dropped him off, Ebb had a friend visiting who was a proud Bellini owner, I had a fantastic chat with her as she was the first Bellini owner I had actually met… and she knew someone with a Mistral. I had researched both machines after popping a comment on a FB group that I am a member of asking if anyone had Bellinis that lasted longer than 6 months. The response was overwhelming. Ebbs friend offered to let me play with her Bellini, and I was excited; then they came on special and I decided I really wanted to try it; so bought it.

Making dinner that night Honey said to me… I thought you would be using your new toy… I was like this is the new toy. The jugs looked so similar. The Bellini (Rebekah) was christened with Quirky's Paprika Chicken… I use boned chicken as it’s cheaper but it takes a little longer. We loved it.

And my Thermomix brush works very well on both machines. If you own a TM or a TB pro, Mistral, Bellini (or probably any Thermo-machine with a wide base) I highly recommend these brushes. They last for ages, soak in bleach and water once a week or pop in the dishwasher. Honey uses my old one for cleaning the pet food cans before they go in the recycling.

I took advantage of the Christmas sales to purchase the Mistral. Mistakenly believing this one person on the thread who told me that her Mistral was far superior to a Bellini (admittedly she was comparing it to the older model what was recalled a while back, the updated model works very well). Really the only differences in the 2 machines is the shape of the base, the shape of the scales and that the Mistral has a sleep mode, which is handy. I’m not too annoyed though about the misinformation having 4 T-Ms (thermo-machines) going to make fudge over Christmas was fun and super handy. Rebekah is visiting my friend in Brisbane for a bit but not before we did some tests with the “kids”. I found that the Recipe Community caramel fudge recipe works just as well in a GSM model as in the TM31. To my disappointment (and the chooks delight) I found that the TB1 needed a different recipe.

While I love my GSM machines I don't think that they are best for milling and kneading if you plan to do a lot of that, you are better off with a Thermoblender type clone or if you can afford it, a more heavy duty machine. If ease of cooking meals that do not come out of a bottle is more your thing than a GSM machine is a fantastic machine that will save you and your family from eating a lot of junk as far as additives goes. 

I think that the MyCook Premium is the best value for money machine that I have tried... Blog here. I recently lent my TM31 and did not miss it at all. Of all my machines the TM31 and the Mistral are the only ones which have broken. I am currently negotiating to get them fixed and will blog what I think of their customer service.

Updates:

Bellini is upgrading their intelli machine, it has caused some mayhem in that People who have multiple jugs want to be able to keep buying Bellinis as they do not fit into Mistral machines. I am sure that in my research, I have read that the Bellini jug fits the Kogan Thermoblend pro machine, which is available from Kogan with a 5 year warranty. We have certainly found that to be very handy for us.

I found this website which is a collection of owners who have given their feedback on what they think of their devices. It is not just thermal cookers but heaps of gadgets.

MyCook appears to be available for purchase in some stores such as Betta, Bing Lee, Retravision, The Good Guys and Vitality life.

Judie